UGC cracks whip on DU, asks colleges to begin admissions

New Delhi, June 26: The UGC has cracked its whip on Delhi University, asking its colleges to start admitting students under the three-year undergraduate course "immediately".

The diktat may bring cheer to over two lakh students left in the lurch due to the ongoing tussle between the two bodies. A source in the University Grants Commission (UGC) told IANS that DU colleges have been told to begin the admission process, which was deferred by the colleges Monday in the absence of clarity on the question of rolling back the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP) to the earlier three-year course.

The UGC sent a letter to the DU at 8.30 PM Wednesday, asking the university to begin admissions from Thursday. A Delhi college principal, however, told IANS they have not received any communication yet.

Earlier, in a letter to DU Registrar Alka Sharma sent Tuesday, UGC Secretary Jaspal Singh Sandhu said: "You are to immediately issue letters to the Delhi colleges directing them to admit students in the three-year undergraduate programme."

Meanwhile, DU in a statement said it has "received a document, from some eminent citizens, outlining concrete suggestions for the solution of the current situation as it exists". "While welcoming this initiative, the university is examining in detail the document and is working with the expectation that the admission process shall be able to commence soon."

The statement was in reference to the 20-member group comprising vice chancellors of various universities along with principals and professors of DU colleges who Wednesday put forth a proposal to resolve the impasse between the university and the UGC. The group appealed to the two bodies to consider providing "a three-year honours programme that is easily devised by reverting to several features of the old semester format and by drastically reducing the existing courses that are not of the honours stream and that exist in the current (four-year) format".

This was despite the fact that 57 DU-affiliated colleges had agreed to the UGC's order of admitting students to the three-year undergraduate course Tuesday. There are a total 78 colleges in the university, and 2.7 lakh students have applied for admissions this year. The Delhi High Court Wednesday also refused to hear a petition seeking restoration of the three-year-course and the scrapping of the controversial FYUP.

The Supreme Court had dismissed a similar plea on Tuesday. Protests, for and against the FYUP, continued Wednesday. Representatives from various students' and teachers' organisations and individuals under the banner of the "Save DU campaign" held a meeting during the day and expressed concern over the continuing delay in the undergraduate admissions.

However, a clear picture emerged over the university vice chancellor Dinesh Singh's resignation, with DU media coordinator Malay Neerav making it clear that Singh still holds the position. "There has been no progress on the matter. We are still waiting for a clear cut directive from DU. Despite sending a resolution to the vice chancellor Monday followed by a letter to the UGC, we are yet to hear from the university," Ram Lal Anand College principal Vijay K. Sharma told IANS.